Lady Business

So I was just thinking.  What I really need for the fall is a top that is cute and comfy and pink...

... and has a giant lady part on the back.

Oh, cool.  I found just the thing. I actually like the drapeyness at the back of the neck and the button detail.  It's too bad they don't offer this top without a coochie tail.


really, shopbop?

Baby Got Back

I have no recollection about this, but at some point, I asked ModCloth to let me know when this pretty little dress was back in stock:

Yeah, that sounds like something I would do.  I am such a sucker for a beautiful exposed back. What a nice surprise!

Buy it while it lasts!

The Ghost (Chair) of Ikea

I have to preface this post by warning you that I am having a little bit of an Ikea Renaissance right about now.  I had a period when I first moved out on my own and my whole apartment was Ikea, because it was all I could afford.  Then I got all high and mighty with my Biglaw salary and thought I was too fancy pants for Ikea.  But after moving from NYC back to the OC, I was faced with a little bit of a problem: much bigger house, much smaller salary.  I had lugged back most of my furnishings from NYC... which basically just manages to furnish our guest room... and had a lot more ground left to cover.  So I went hunting high and low, craigslist, west elm, etc., and pieced together a lot of stuff that way.  But I kept running into roadblocks that for some reason I was only finding solutions for at, gasp, Ikea.

It had been quite a while since my lazy bones had been inside of an Ikea (though I must admit I had peeked through their catalog for staging ideas) and was reasonably pleased with what I found.  Remember, you are listening to a gal who still manages to justify trips to F21 at age 30.  For some items, especially trendy crap, I just feel like its better to get them somewhere low budge, because chances are, you aren't gonna be into it a few years from now.  And that is something that Ikea does pretty well: trendy crap.  Like this take on the ghost chair:

The Ghost of Ikea

The Original

I am not one of those girls who gets my panties in a wad about a knock off, but I kinda like that these aren't a straight up copy of the original Philippe Starck Louis Ghost Chair (beautiful in their own right, but I am not at the point in my personal history where I am spending that kinda cheddar on some damn chairs).

I think the Ikea chairs are a fun, even more modern take on the ghost chair.  And at $79.99 each they are a little more budget friendly than the original.

Ikea Tobias

Heart this dress?

So I'm not gonna lie... if this was 5 years ago, 5 years younger me would probably have bought this.  Yes.  Judge away.   It's bright and tacky and draws a big heart around your funnybags.  But isn't that what they are there for?  Whatever.  It's cute and fun and kinda hilarious... and would have been awesome for spring break in Ft. Lauderdale circa 2005.  This dress makes me want to turn on Last Friday Night and rock out... I probably shouldn't admit that.

You lovey long time?

Winky Boobs

Hi there.  I couldn't help but notice you were kinda giving me the eye...

Even this poor model looks slightly embarrassed and defeated on account of this shirt.  Chin up girl, at least you are getting good exposure.  One day you will look back on this fondly and laugh to your friend, Unemployed Ex-Model #2, and say "Hey, remember that time I wore eyes on my boobs."

Buy it?

Totally Addicted to Sunprints

Thanks to Apartment Therapy, and of course Martha, I am now totally and 100% addicted to Sunprints.  Sunprints are made by harnessing the power of the sun to make a beautiful blue and white print.  Really, its just light sensitive paper, but its crazy fun and the results are gorgeous (see below).  Luckily, I am fortunate enough to be hosting the baby shower for my (baby) sister Nikita, and so I have a great outlet for all of my crafting urges. 

Fig. 1.  Let's get it started!

So immediately after reading the AT post, I scurried over to Amazon to find me some sun paper.  When the package arrived it was just like Christmas morning.  I was so stoked to get started, that I disregarded the package instructions that this needs to be done in direct sun light.  After a long day of work, I had the craft ants in my pants.  I did NOT want to wait until the weekend to get started.  I had a box full of alphabet magnets and all sorts of cute shit I wanted to sunprint right onto that paper.

So... the reason that you are supposed to make Sunprints in direct sunlight is because of shadows.  See Fig. 1.  My solution to this, is to rotate my creation 90 degrees every 2 minutes or so.  Like I said, ants in the pants.

Fig. 2.  Developing Process

It is supposed to take about 5 minutes, but because my sunlight was not optimal I gave it 10, to let each side get a few minutes of sun.  When it's ready, the background changes from blue to white. See Fig. 2.


So keeping the letters in place while rotating my paper was a tad bit of a challenge.  The set comes with a piece of plastic that is meant to hold your item in place, but it was more just getting in the way.   So once I decided I got all the exposure I needed, I scurried back to the house so that I didn't accidentally lose a letter and expose a part of the paper that I didn't want to expose.  And, of course, those ants wanted to see results.

Fig. 3. The Magic Begins

Once you get back indoors, you just develop the prints by running them under cool water for a few minutes, lay them out to dry and then sit back and watch the magic happen.  Fig. 3.  (oops, it looks like my essential crafting tools: red wine and multi surface cleaner are making a cameo appearance)

Fig. 4. Curly Pants

 So the prints develop from white to sky blue to deep dark blue pretty quickly.  Fig. 4.  The ants in my pants are satisfied!


The paper gets a little curly and rumply (like wet paper is known to do) during the developing process, so you have to stick them between some heavy books for a day or so to get them to lay nice and flat.

However, once you have flattened them, the results are pretty beautiful (in my humble opinion).  Fig 5.

Fig. 5. The Finished Product

Progress!

According to NY Mag (a girls gotta get her news somewhere, don't judge), a new health care provision was enacted that requires private insurers to offer your b.c. and other lady services without charging a copay or out of pocket fees!  Finally, someone has realized that b.c. is cheaper than babies. 

... the only caveat is that religious institutions have the right to refuse to cover b.c.  So probably don't work for them if you want free b.c.